ABSTRACT
To celebrate the bicentenary of the French Revolution, the city of Arras commissioned playwright Vera Feyder to create a drama based on the life of a famous, some might say infamous, native son—Maximilien de Robespierre. The city requested that the play have a large cast of characters to permit the participation of several theatre companies: le Théâtre du Campagnol, Centre Dramatique National de la banlieue sud, les Tréteaux d'Artois and les Quatre sans cou. To one familiar with Feyder's previous work, it is difficult to imagine a subject—Robespierre and the reign of terror—or a style—a large-scale production with numerous characters—less in keeping with her own themes and dramatic practice. Her best-known play, Emballage perdu, is an intimate two-character piece that traces the effect of verbal violence on the friendship between two women. However, Feyder accepted the commission on the condition that she be allowed to set the play in contemporary France rather than in the Revolutionary period. The result, Le Chant du retour, is a play that differs in many ways from Feyder's usual dramatic style, yet remains faithful to her abiding themes: freedom, human dignity, and the power of language.
